U.S. Trends in dietary variety and its association with BMI and micronutrient intakes

Abstract

One proposed contributor to excess energy intake is dietary variety, particularly energy‐dense variety (McCrory et al 1999). Using national survey data, we examined the potential role of dietary variety in the obesity epidemic and relationships among variety and micronutrient intake. Usual dietary intake data from the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals (CSFII) 1989–91 and 1994–96 were coded and six dietary variety scores were calculated as described previously (Roberts et al 2005). We included adults aged 21–60 y, and excluded individuals with implausible energy intake reports (Huang et al 2005) and BMI<17 kg/m2. Results showed all types of dietary variety increased from 1989–91 to 1994–96 (p≤.025), except for food group variety which remained constant. In both surveys, energy‐dense variety was higher and energy‐weak variety was lower with higher BMI (p≤.05). Micronutrient dense variety was positively associated with mean micronutrient intake (%EAR) in both surveys (p≤0.001), whereas energy‐dense variety was only weakly associated with greater micronutrient intake in 1989–91 and not associated in 1994–96. Increasing energy‐dense variety over time may lead to weight gain with minimal contribution to micronutrient intake.Grant Funding Source : n/a